Sex Pistols guitarist Glen Matlock tells Sue Crawford how a slipped disc has caused him agony for 40 years
When punk Glen Matlock pogoed across the stage with The Sex Pistols, he never for one second thought his high-energy antics would come back to haunt him.
The notorious Seventies band symbolised youthful rebellion and passion and threw everything into their live shows.
Now, 40 years on, bass guitarist Glen has revealed the punishing rock and roll lifestyle came at a heavy price, leaving him with back pain so severe that at times he has been forced to walk with a stick and even left him bedridden for weeks on end.
Glen, who wrote some of the band’s greatest hits including Anarchy in the UK and God Save The Queen, says: “The pain is totally debilitating and when it strikes I can’t move. It’s like sciatica – the pain travels right down my legs – and I can’t do anything. I just lie there. At one stage I was getting quite considerable attacks all the time and it could go on for six weeks or more.